Swollen streams in the Deep South threatened to spill out of their banks, sending hundreds more people in search of higher ground a day after flooding submerged towns and forced thousands to evacuate. Officials said 700 people could be forced to evacuate near Selma and Montgomery, Ala., before the Alabama River reaches its crest today. Emergency managers ordered evacuation of 1,000 residents in Caryville, Fla., as Georgia and Alabama floodwaters swelled Florida rivers.

Wind-driven snow that paralyzed travel across the Midwest on Sunday was blamed for two traffic deaths, while six people lost their lives and 2,000 were forced from their homes by storms and flooding in the South. More than a foot of snow fell across the central Plains and Midwest, filling roadside motels with idled motorists and stranding others in their cars. In Elba, Ala., a creek swollen by four days of rain burst a levee, forcing about 2,000 people to flee.

Thunderstorms soaked the nation's midsection Friday, causing flooding in Indiana in the wake of a swarm of tornadoes. "Flooding along the Wabash River in southwest Indiana was described as being immense, with the river two miles wide in western Gibson County at Interstate 64," the National Weather Service reported. In Arkansas, the Ouachita River crested at Camden, at less than 10 feet over the flood stage of 26 feet.

Hurricane Lili and the remains of Tropical Storm Marco locked pincers on the South on Friday with a combination of powerful winds, heavy surf and drenching rains. At least 10 people have died in the storms. Lili lurked off the shore of North Carolina, a weakling among hurricanes, spinning harmless 8-foot waves into the Outer Banks. Its winds were clocked at 75 m.p.h.--barely over the hurricane threshold of 74 m.p.h.

President Bush signed legislation that will speed $897 million in assistance to farmers whose crops he said had been battered this year by "the forces of nature." The bulk of the aid--$400 million--will go to wheat farmers whose winter harvest in Kansas and other states was devastated by drought. At the other extreme, the Disaster Assistance Act will compensate farmers in the South and elsewhere whose rice, soybean, cotton and other crops were wiped out by rain, wind and floods.

Showers and thunderstorms dumped more rain on the already soaked ground of northern Texas, southwestern Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma, where the flooding Trinity and Red rivers have caused millions of dollars in damage. Flash-flood watches were posted for parts of northeastern Texas. Strong southerly winds prevailed from the southern Plains to the middle Mississippi Valley. Winds at Guadalupe Pass, Tex., gusted to 67 m.p.h.

Hurricane Lili and the remains of Tropical Storm Marco locked pincers on the South on Friday with a combination of powerful winds, heavy surf and drenching rains. At least 10 people have died in the storms. Lili lurked off the shore of North Carolina, a weakling among hurricanes, spinning harmless 8-foot waves into the Outer Banks. Its winds were clocked at 75 m.p.h.--barely over the hurricane threshold of 74 m.p.h.

Wind-driven snow that paralyzed travel across the Midwest on Sunday was blamed for two traffic deaths, while six people lost their lives and 2,000 were forced from their homes by storms and flooding in the South. More than a foot of snow fell across the central Plains and Midwest, filling roadside motels with idled motorists and stranding others in their cars. In Elba, Ala., a creek swollen by four days of rain burst a levee, forcing about 2,000 people to flee.

With a pistol strapped to his side, Paul Andrews gently throttled up the engine on his flat-bottomed boat and cruised down the ribbon of open space between the trees. The trouble was, only days earlier this had been the road to his house. Then the floods came, spilling the Trinity River out of its banks. The water roiled around trees and houses and over roads.

Muddy waters surging through Florida's Panhandle region on Tuesday forced more than 2,000 people to flee their homes, authorities said. More than 1,500 people were evacuated in three Florida counties flooded by the rising Choctawhatchee River and about 500 others were moved from other Panhandle river basins flooded by runoff from Alabama and Georgia, where heavy rains fell last week. The worst flooding in the South was in Alabama.

Thunderstorms soaked the nation's midsection Friday, causing flooding in Indiana in the wake of a swarm of tornadoes. "Flooding along the Wabash River in southwest Indiana was described as being immense, with the river two miles wide in western Gibson County at Interstate 64," the National Weather Service reported. In Arkansas, the Ouachita River crested at Camden, at less than 10 feet over the flood stage of 26 feet.

With a pistol strapped to his side, Paul Andrews gently throttled up the engine on his flat-bottomed boat and cruised down the ribbon of open space between the trees. The trouble was, only days earlier this had been the road to his house. Then the floods came, spilling the Trinity River out of its banks. The water roiled around trees and houses and over roads.

Showers and thunderstorms dumped more rain on the already soaked ground of northern Texas, southwestern Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma, where the flooding Trinity and Red rivers have caused millions of dollars in damage. Flash-flood watches were posted for parts of northeastern Texas. Strong southerly winds prevailed from the southern Plains to the middle Mississippi Valley. Winds at Guadalupe Pass, Tex., gusted to 67 m.p.h.

Muddy waters surging through Florida's Panhandle region on Tuesday forced more than 2,000 people to flee their homes, authorities said. More than 1,500 people were evacuated in three Florida counties flooded by the rising Choctawhatchee River and about 500 others were moved from other Panhandle river basins flooded by runoff from Alabama and Georgia, where heavy rains fell last week. The worst flooding in the South was in Alabama.

Storm-choked rivers surged further beyond their banks in southern Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, driving families from their homes to join thousands who have fled from flooding that has led to at least 13 deaths throughout the South. Military police officers guarded against looters in flood-ravaged southern Alabama, where the town of Elba remained a muddy hole Monday, two days after an earthen levee ruptured along the Pea River.

Swollen streams in the Deep South threatened to spill out of their banks, sending hundreds more people in search of higher ground a day after flooding submerged towns and forced thousands to evacuate. Officials said 700 people could be forced to evacuate near Selma and Montgomery, Ala., before the Alabama River reaches its crest today. Emergency managers ordered evacuation of 1,000 residents in Caryville, Fla., as Georgia and Alabama floodwaters swelled Florida rivers.

Storm-choked rivers surged further beyond their banks in southern Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, driving families from their homes to join thousands who have fled from flooding that has led to at least 13 deaths throughout the South. Military police officers guarded against looters in flood-ravaged southern Alabama, where the town of Elba remained a muddy hole Monday, two days after an earthen levee ruptured along the Pea River.

Floods that carried six people to their deaths in the rain-swept Deep South ripped open dams and buried towns under as much as 10 feet of water Saturday, forcing hundreds to flee and threatening to chase thousands more from their homes, authorities said. Major flooding was reported in Alabama, inundated by up to 17 inches of rain Thursday and Friday, and in Tennessee, the Carolinas and Georgia, where roads and bridges have been washed out by 7 inches of rain since Friday.

Floods that carried six people to their deaths in the rain-swept Deep South ripped open dams and buried towns under as much as 10 feet of water Saturday, forcing hundreds to flee and threatening to chase thousands more from their homes, authorities said. Major flooding was reported in Alabama, inundated by up to 17 inches of rain Thursday and Friday, and in Tennessee, the Carolinas and Georgia, where roads and bridges have been washed out by 7 inches of rain since Friday.

Flooding continued Monday across the South, with at least six deaths blamed on high water, and about 7,000 residents of east-central Illinois at Champaign remained without electricity after snow and ice storms knocked out power lines last week. The National Weather Service said that a new round of storms, possibly producing heavy rainfall, could reach the South by Wednesday, with a threat of more flooding.